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Spirited Murray falls to Almagro ... A brilliant display by Andy Murray saw him beat Novak Djokovic for the first time to set up a semi-final clash with Rafael Nadal in the Toronto Masters.

The British number one had lost his four previous matches against the world number three, the defending champion, but his battling approach paid off.

Murray's tactics were spot on as he clinched a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory.

Nadal lost a marathon first set against Richard Gasquet in his quarter-final but went on to win 6-7 (12-14) 6-2 6-1.

The Spanish world number two has now won 27 successive matches.

He meets Murray less than a month after destroying him in straight sets on his way to taking the title at Wimbledon.

But the 21-year-old Scot will be in confident mood after finally ending his hoodoo against Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, who had inflicted heavy defeats upon him in their last three meetings.

It was a fascinating encounter between two different styles of play - with Murray's stubborn defence proving the match of the Serb's powerful groundstrokes.

Murray, the world number nine, broke Djokovic in his first service game and, after opening up a 3-0 lead, easily took the first set.

The second set was far tighter, with both players exchanging breaks, but Murray dominated the tie-break to move 6-1 ahead before serving out for victory.

"It is a huge win for me, especially mentally," Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live. "He has beaten me comfortably a few times in the last year or so.

"So to win against him in straight sets, especially when he came back really well in the second set, was very pleasing."

Gilles Simon, conqueror of Roger Federer, will face Nicolas Kiefer in the other semi-final.

(BBC)

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